Are you going to the Blue Ocean Fair?
*sung to the tune of “Scarborough Fair”
The authors of Blue Ocean Strategy recently released a companion book, Blue Ocean Shift. I call it a companion because it focuses on helping teams develop the three key components needed implement Blue Ocean Strategy concepts.
These are:
- A Blue Ocean Perspective
- Market-Creating Tools
- Humanness in the Process
Many of the tools introduced in this book will be familiar to those who already possess a ‘Blue Ocean Perspective.’ But there was one activity introduced that got me really excited to bring a client through this process.
That’s the Blue Ocean Fair.
It’s common during a strategy engagement for sub-teams to branch off and then come together to share findings and recommendations. But the fair as recommended by the authors is much more elaborate.
This isn’t just a summary back to your teammates. Instead, these presentations are made to existing and prospective clients, and perhaps even the general public.
This is brilliant, and raises the stakes exponentially.
This tells your team this isn’t just some internal exercise. This is for real, and their efforts won’t be in vain.
Attendees at the fair will be introduced to the initiative, given some background on the current state of the industry, and then the pitches will begin.
Each subteam presents their strategy canvas, including how they intend to differentiate from industry norms to offer value.
After presentations, attendees are invited to mill around and ask teams about their recommendations. They’ll ultimately vote on their preferred strategic option(s).
Then each strategy canvas will be re-visited and attendees will be asked for more specific feedback. “What captured your imagination?” “What’s a drawback?” “What about the value proposition could or should be sharpened?”
Once this feedback is captured, the executive team will convene and make their decision on which option(s) to pursue. It’s recommended that these be presented back to the entire group before the end of the event, but I can see how an organization may not want to share that too broadly with the public.
But!
Imagine how exciting it would be to be in attendance, see the different possibilities a company is entertaining, and then hear right then that they’re committed to further exploring something you gave feedback on!
This is great for a team who’s been struggling with growth and wants to benefit from some early excitement from customers on ‘what we’re working on [even before any development actually starts]’.
Won’t someone steal a great idea?
Perhaps you’re asking yourself: but if we open our fair to others, don’t we run the risk of someone stealing our idea?
If it’s a great idea, then it’ll be selected to be pursued by the executive team, and you’re ready to move into execution. Remember, these strategy canvases are just artifacts derived from unique customer insights your team now possesses. You’re in the best position to capitalize on them.
Andrea Hill is the principal consultant at Frameplay. Frameplay is an innovation consultancy that helps companies become more customer-focused and thrive in a rapidly changing world. We do this by providing best practices, actionable insights and training without the price tag of those bigger ‘digital transformation’ consulting firms. Learn more at frameplay.co
